Celebrity apologies

Celebrities may be rich, famous, and talented, but they’re certainly not perfect. When they make mistakes, they’re often very public and usually accompanied by a high-profile attempt at damage control. Check out a roundup of mea culpas from some familiar faces.<br><br> From left: Robert Kraft, Kristen Stewart, Gisele Bundchen.
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JOHN SHEARER/INVISION via associated press

Kristen Stewart rocked the worlds of Twi-hards around the globe when she admitted to cheating on her onscreen and real-life love, Robert Pattinson.<br><br> “I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I’ve caused to those close to me and everyone this has affected. This momentary indiscretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life, the person I love and respect the most, Rob. I love him, I love him, I’m so sorry,” she said in a statement to People on July 25.
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Phil McCarten/PictureGroup/File

“Tosh.0” star Daniel Tosh kicked up controversy in July 2012 when he made jokes about rape in a stand-up performance. After an audience member’s recount of the show went viral, Tosh tweeted, “The point i was making before i was heckled is there are awful things in the world but you can still make jokes about them.” He also wrote, “All the out of context misquotes aside, i’d like to sincerely apologize."
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In July 2012, footage of Patriots owner Robert Kraft helping a scantily clad Ricki Noel Lander audition for a role surfaced. The awkward clip drew jeers from Pats fans. Kraft soon responded to the backlash with a statement saying he “never intended that [the footage] would be made public and I regret that it has.”
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Mark Humphrey/Associated Press/File

“30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan issued a public mea culpa on June 21, 2011, in Nashville after saying that if his son were gay, he would “pull out a knife and stab’’ him, during a stand-up gig in the city earlier in the month.<br><br> “While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context,’’ Morgan said.
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Richard Drew/associated press/file

Former US Representative Anthony Weiner apologized in June 2011 for sending lewd pictures of himself to women online, after initially denying he had sent the photos.<br><br> “I’m deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife, and our family, my constituents, my friends, my supporters, and my staff,” Weiner said.
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Brian Snyder/Reuters

Another scandal befell the legendarily Kennedy family when in May 2011 Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to fathering a child out of wedlock with a member of his household staff.<br><br> “I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children, and my family. I am truly sorry,’’ the former movie star and politician said in a statement.
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

No stranger to public apologies, singer Chris Brown said he was “disappointed in how I acted” after storming off “Good Morning America” in March 2011 when the conversation turned toward his 2009 assault of ex-girlfriend Rihanna (an incident for which he also issued a video apology).<br><br>In an appearance on BET’s “106 & Park,” Brown said he went off backstage “to release the anger that I had inside me.” He also added, “I got very emotional and I apologize for that.”
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Jason Merritt/Getty Images for AIF

Miley Cyrus initially kept quiet after a video of her smoking salvia from a bong surfaced on the Web in December 2010. However, she owned up to the misstep in a Marie Claire cover story released in February 2011, saying, “I’m not perfect... I made a mistake... I’m disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans.”
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Christopher Polk/Getty Images For BET

Kanye West drew public ire after snatching the mike from Taylor Swift and pooh-pooh-ing her MTV Video Music Award win at the show’s 2009 ceremony. However, he later went on “The Jay Leno Show” and said, “It was rude, period.” In September 2010 he also tweeted, “I’m sorry, Taylor. We’re both artists, and the media and managers are trying to get between us. She deserves the apology more than anyone.”
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Bill Brett for The Boston Globe

Gisele Bundchen angered people around the world when she declared in a 2010 Harper’s Bazaar UK interview that, “There should be a worldwide law, in my opinion, that mothers should breastfeed their babies for six months.” <br><br>After a maelstrom of hate, Bundchen backpedaled on her blog, writing, “I understand that everyone has their own experience and opinions and I am not here to judge.”
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Chris Pizzello/Associated Press

Rumors about Sandra Bullock’s husband Jesse James surfaced March 17, 2010, when it was alleged that the motorcycle builder had been cheating on his Oscar-winning wife while she was filming “The Blind Side.”<br><br>

In a statement released to People magazine James said, “It’s because of my poor judgment that I deserve everything bad that is coming my way. This has caused my wife and kids pain and embarrassment beyond comprehension and I am extremely saddened to have brought this on them.”

“I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable,” he said.

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, resigned as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, after an affair with a campaign staffer. “I came back home to Nevada to come forward to explain to the citizens of our state something I was involved in about a year ago. Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of our marriage. It is absolutely the worst thing I have ever done in my life,” he said on June 16, 2009. He resigned as senator in 2011.

Jay Severin, upon his return to the airwaves in June 2009 after a suspension, said he regretted the derogatory comments he made about Mexicans—comments which led to his hiatus. <br><br>“To every person I have offended by my recent remarks: I am truly regretful and extend my apology. And to those who were not offended, I have still let you down by appealing to something less than the ‘best and brightest’ in you, and for this I am also sorry,” Severin said.
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Reuters

Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff released a public apology in 2008 for defrauding investors for years and masterminding a $65 billion Ponzi scheme. <br><br>“I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done. I am here today to accept responsibility for my crimes by pleading guilty and, with this plea allocution, explain the means by which I carried out and concealed my fraud,” he said in his plea allocution on March 12, 2009, before he was sentenced that June to 150 years in prison.
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the boston globe

In 2009, baseball player Alex Rodriguez admitted to ESPN that he did take performance-enhancing drugs when he played for the Texas Rangers between 2001 and 2003.<br><br> “I was young, I was stupid, I was naïve. I wanted to prove to everyone I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance. For that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful,” he said.
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the boston globe

“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps said in a February 2009 statement acknowledging that he had been photographed smoking marijuana. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry.”
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Todd Vanderlin / Associated Press

A January 2007 guerilla marketing stunt for the Adult Swim cartoon “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” sent the city of Boston into a frenzy when police mistook promotional devices for bombs. Turner, the network behind Adult Swim, apologized for the incident.<br><br> “We apologize to the city of Boston that part of the marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger,’’ Phil Kent, Turner Broadcasting Co. chairman said in a statement.
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Larry Downing / Reuters

Former Republican senator Larry Craig apologized in August 2007 after news of his arrest for “lewd behavior’’ in an airport men’s room—and his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge—became public. <br><br>“I did nothing wrong at the Minneapolis airport ... I regret the decision to plead guilty ... Let me be clear. I am not gay. I never have been gay ... I should not have kept this arrest to my myself, and I should have told my family and friends,’’ he said.
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Joshua Roberts / Reuters/ File

“I want to apologize to all the young kids out there for my immature acts ... I need to grow up ... I will redeem myself. I have to,’’ NFL player Michael Vick said after pleading guilty to federal charges connected to his involvement with dogfighting. He was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.
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Plinio Lepri / Associated Press

Cardinal Bernard Law apologized in 2002 to more than 130 people abused by the Rev. John Geoghan for having known about Geoghan’s history of child molestation and letting him remain a priest. Geoghan was just one of many priests Law allowed to continue working under his watch.<br><br>

The apology: “Judgments were made regarding the assignment of John Geoghan which, in retrospect, were tragically incorrect.’’
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Win Mcnamee / Reuters / File

After denials in a deposition in January 1998, President Bill Clinton acknowledged his lack of openness about his notorious relationship with a former White House intern.<br><br>

“Indeed, I did have a relationship with Monica Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact it was wrong. It constituted a critical lack in judgment and a personal failure on my part, for which I am solely and completely responsible ... I misled people, including even my wife. I deeply regret that,’’ Clinton said in an address in August of that year.

Chris Walker / Chicago Tribune via Associated Press / File

Advice columnist Ann Landers, normally a model of politeness, apologized in 1995 for calling then-Pope John Paul II a “Polack.’’<br><br>

“I should not have used a slang term for Polish. It was poor judgment, and I apologize,’’ she told the New Yorker.
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